Intuition Robotics today launched a beta program for its ElliQ Active Aging Companion, a voice-powered social robot for older adults. The company plans the commercial launch for later this year.

ElliQ is a proactive social robot designed to encourage an active and engaged lifestyle by helping to bridge the digital divide and keeping families closer together. It adapts to the personalities and interests of seniors, recommending content they might enjoy, such as news, music, TED talks, and cognitive games. Communicating through body language, speech, sounds, light, and images, ElliQ also suggests activities, such as taking a walk, medicine reminders, or just calling family members.

In the beta program, ElliQ will be introduced into the homes of dozens of older adults in California and Florida for an in-depth multiweek user trial. Intuition Robotics has partnered with Village to Village Network, Comfort Keepers, and individual families that joined the program through the company's website. In the beta, the company plans to test how ElliQ integrates into the day-to-day lives of the seniors and their families and examine how it can improve ElliQ prior to the larger release.

"Our mission with ElliQ is to harness the proactive power of cognitive computing to empower older adults to overcome the digital divide and pursue an active lifestyle," said Dor Skuler, CEO and founder of Intuition Robotics, in a statement. "We are fortunate to have been working with many older adults to develop ElliQ's features and user experience to meet their needs. Now, we areexcited to begin the beta program as the next step on our way to a 2018 launch."